Burlington-based District 301 premieres podcast series showcasing school programs, events

Rafael Guerrero/The Courier-News

Stacy Reagan, bottom left, interviews Kelly Greene, top left, Matt Bilen, top right, and Vince Neil at Central High School Wednesday for a podcast on Central School District 301's career and technical education classes.

Stacy Reagan, bottom left, interviews Kelly Greene, top left, Matt Bilen, top right, and Vince Neil at Central High School Wednesday for a podcast on Central School District 301's career and technical education classes. (Rafael Guerrero/The Courier-News)

At Central School District 301, educators and officials say they’ve found a new way to communicate with students, staff, families and residents that’s accessible, casual and capable of covering a diverse range of topics — podcasts.

The 301, a podcast series that uses interviews to highlight district issues and programs, was launched this school year.

“I think people kind of get tired of the emails and newsletters,” said Michael Doyle, who shares the podcast with Stacy Reagan. Both are Central High School instructional coaches.

It’s still in its early stages — Doyle and Reagan say they’re still fine-tuning how long episodes should be, who should be invited to participate and how to get the word out — but they’re excited about the potential.

“I think it’s a little bit easier for people listening because these are more casual conversations,” Reagan said of the episodes, which can be accessed via District 301’s communications website, https://central301.net/district-301-podcasts/, and YouTube. “I think our approach is a little more interactive, conversations going back and forth. I think people enjoy that a little bit more.”

The first episode, which aired in October, was a primer on podcasts. Among the interviews since have been with Superintendent Todd Stirn, who gave something akin to a “state of the district” report; Esther Mongan, assistant superintendent of human resources, who talked about new laws affecting the district; and teachers William “Buddy” Haas and Ryan Robinson espousing on the district’s agriculture program.

In the podcast taped Wednesday, the guests were instructional technologist Vince Neil and career and technical education (CTE) teachers Matt Bilen and Kelly Greene, who discussed the school’s CTE offerings. It’s expected to be available Monday.

“We have such good stuff going on here at Central (School District 301),” Reagan said. “It’s just a different way for us to get our message out. I’m sure there were a lot of people who didn’t know of the agriculture program. Just listening to (Robinson and Haas) talk about the passion they have for their program and the really cool stuff they do … you could have a parent who doesn’t know anything and thinks, ‘Hey, this is a great opportunity for our kids.’”

The audience size is small at this time and while the podcasters don’t yet to find a way to accurately track their audience, they do know they’ve had as many as 200 views on YouTube.

Interest in the medium, though, is there, Reagan and Doyle said. Guests have told them how comfortable and at ease they feel at the audio-only recordings.

“I think people like (the podcast interviews) because they don’t like being filmed,” Reagan said.

Neil, one of Wednesday’s podcast guests, is working on an app for The 301 series with his Mobile Maker students so the episodes can be easily accessed from a smartphone.

Doyle and Reagan said there is tudent interest in podcast production. A Spanish class is working on an in-class podcast project, and couple of high school teachers are incorporating podcast production into speech and American history lessons, they said.

“One of our goals is to get students actually producing and creating a Central podcast that is by students,” Reagan said.